Ten things you need to know about the Sony Alpha 7 II

Meet the Sony Alpha 7 II

The Alpha 7 II, also known as the a7 II, is the latest full-frame mirrorless camera from Sony. The a7 II is one of the world's smallest full-frame interchangeable lens camera (sharing that honor with its siblings) and the latest revision brings a number of exciting new features as well as ergonomic improvements.

The a7 II body-only kit is $1700, while adding the 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lens brings the price to $2000. Click through this slideshow to learn more.

Personally I don't find the grip and shutter position on the a7 to be awkward - it takes some getting used to because it's different from most of other cameras, with the gripping position a little more upright. But once you are used to it, it actually makes a lot of sense.

I know an in-body 5-axis image stabilization system is a big deal. Personally I'd much prefer to see a better weather-sealed a7 so I can feel more at ease using it in the wet.

I wonder how people would react to an additional microSD slot. From my experience, they are not slower from SD cards at all and you could use it as a mirror exclusively. On the other hand, battery life would take another hit.

Why oh why does Sony so consistently fail to offer a model with all the premium features in ONE ELITE PACKAGE??? What happened to the 36MP sensor from the a7R? Why do they add these nice new features, then drop the sensor back down to 24MP??? Is the Sony corporate culture programmed to always earn a B+, never an A?

@ Mel, that may explain why you choose a 24MP camera when I prefer a 36'er, but NOT why Sony always drops features when they add improvements. (e.g., A6000 - big AF tracking boost, etc., w/o a level display)

@sierra- before you go around accusing of B+ teams or A's, did you consider perhaps that a 24 MP sensor may be cheaper than a 36 MP one? And that perhaps for business profit it's good to have different models / tiers by different prices and cost of manufacture? Apparently not.

Is it that unreasonable to think there may be an improved model with the 36MP resolution? I mean, come on.

@Raist3d - I said I'm a-hankerin' for an elite model with all the advanced features, pardner- so discussing a medley of cheaper models is more like a new point, not a logical criticism of mine . Sony has mostly lost money recently (-$1.14/sh. in latest quarter), so it's possible my suggestion has greater merit than your excusing their current approach.

Richard Kwon was correct. The reason this model is 24MP is the same that there were 24MP and 36MP models the first go round; the 36MP sensor leaves no space for PDAF points. That is why the a7R does not have hybrid AF, and is more of a studio/ slow-subject camera than a general use camera.

@sterra- chill out son. I am merely explaining that your extreme "team B+/A" whatever is a bit overboard. One thing is to express your desire for your needs, another to think that Sony is just incompetent because they can't satisfy your specific needs.

As for Sony losing money you need to be more careful and expand which areas they lost money. For example- maybe their cameras are successful while other divisions are dragging Sony. Did possibility remotely occur to you? Apparently not, since you know what Sony should do apparently.

@exapixel: The normal viewing distance for a 36x48 inch print is about 5-6 feet. If you can resolve the difference between 125 pixels per inch and 160 or so pixels/inch at that distance, you're talking eyesight beyond that of most humans, for whom most of us create such enlargements.

It's a silly horsepower race - and meaningless except for bragging rights. I prefer to concentrate on creating images with such visual interest that the pixels per inch would be irrelevant even if they were reduced to the level of a 1960s 70-screen newspaper image - or a Seurat painting.

Why bother when the the A99? The A7II has 5Axis vs Standard IBIS in A99. A7II also has the latest gen sensor. Only thing you loose is the better AF system with the A99. And if AF is your top priority, A77II is the best bet in the Sony world...

FujLiver, I don't need A99, but I work with 2 or 3 cameras simultaneusly. I'm just in doubt which one I'll couple with the Zeiss 135, and it has to be one with IBIS. If I were pleased to work at that focal length without IS, I would just keep 5D MkIII + 135L. No matter how good A7s is at higher iso's, sometimes I'll want to use slower speeds.And if I had to choose a "MF only" for A7s, it probably would be the Minolta 135 STF.

With all the iterations of DSLR, SLR, APS-C mirrorless, alpha.... it's nice to see that this design might actually stick to the wall and give them something to build off of instead of changing directions every 18 months.

But few things you don't wanna know about A7 ii- unimpressive native lenses- no touch screen functionality- no 4k video support- no e-shutter

and few things I want to ask about A7-ii- Does its shutter release sound as loud and terrible as the original one- If it gonna possibly support 4k video with a future firmware upgrade, even with a crop mode?- Any possible kit option with 35mm prime lens

"- unimpressive native lenses"Assume you've not looked at either the FE 55/1.8, nor the FE 16-35/4.0.

"- Does its shutter release sound as loud and terrible as the original on"You might be confusing with the A7R which was loud (almost as loud as a FF dSLR) and lacked the EFC. The A7 had EFC and even with it turned off was significantly quieter than the A7R for whatever reason.

Mel SynderDo you mean "Electronic Front-Curtain Shutter" .. that is to reduce blur. Where you saw it on Sony web site?

Canon or Nikon don't have any mirrorless fullframe either .. why you acting so funny about it ..

@Rob A7 was quieter than A7r but was still loud. I hope this one is better. For me, and am sure there are many others, who would like to carry this camera into quite places. As mostly these quite places are also dark and this fullframe sensor can easily do magic there..

The two lenses you mentioned are good, but not good enough mate for this sort of camera also they are huge for mirrorless. I really liked 16-35 but its so massive, I wouldn't like to put it on Sony A7*

@Naveed. I doubt it'll be quieter than the A7, probably the same, but we'll have to wait and see. I continued using my Nikon D700 for a while alongside my A7. The D700 was MUCH louder, but I don't remember everyone slamming it for it's shutter sound... so by proxi I'm assuming the D750 would also be louder... again, I didn't see that mentioned as a negative in the reviews or by people discussing it.

When you say "not good enough", the FE 55/1.8 is rated as the 2nd best standard lens ever made, behind only the massive Otus 55/1.4. I guess you must have very high standards for your lenses.

If size is high priority for you, I'm not sure ANY full-frame camera would fit your bill. Take a look at m43 which have a number of quality and small lenses, with the obvious limitation of double DoF. Also, only you can decide how important the sensor quality is to your photography (12-16mpx squeezed into an area 1/4 the size of FF has some obviously trade offs in dynamic range and low noise).

Scan down to the shutter specifications, and you will see it has an electronic front shutter that, like the A7, can be turned on or off from software.

Naveed, you are getting some negative and sarcastic responses in response to your negative and sarcastic statements.

1. The native lenses are as comprehensive as 99% of amateurs and 70% of most pros want and need. The 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200mm all have good reviews. Maybe not penultimate, but for heaven's sake, the body is priced at $1700, not $4000 like some of the Canon and Nikon offerings.

2. I've used only the 35mm f2.8 prime, but I can tell you it competes well with the 35mm f1.4 Summilux-M - possibly superior at f2.8, equal at f4 and up. The 55mm is reported as one of the best. And more are on the way.

Well said @Rob "I'm not sure ANY full-frame camera would fit your bill". That's precisely one thing, many Sony adapters are missing here, with a smallish body A7*, we are forgetting the fact that the whole package will still be heavy.

And if D750's live view AF performance is improved as they claiming, one of the big complain from Nikon DSLRs is gone. It also got a tilt LCD now. And the size even if it's bigger than A7* is not massive and actually preferable size for most of the big fullframe lenses. Plus if you add up those metabone lens adapter's price and heft and inconvineance, the gaps get even closer.

Back to Alpha system, I like the size of 35mm lens but IQ is not great, I liked the 55mm lens, but is pricey for the size and aperture. I like to switch to Sony alpha but not to adopt my nikon lenses on it. I would like to get a good small kit zoom lens with even narrower aperture, but higher IQ and smaller size. A small f/2.8 standard prime at more Sony Alpha like price.

Utter rubbish. My A7, 35mm f1.4 Summilux M, 50mm f2 Summicron M, and 90mm f2,8 Tele-Elmarit M all fit in the same tiny case as the Leica M4P that I traveled the globe with in the pre-digital age. 30 years later, the A7 body is actually SMALLER than the M4P, which enables the same lenses with adapters to fit in that case. I can even stow s3 spare batteries in the elastics that used to hold film cassettes.

Clearly, you've never tried to shoot action video with a Nikon live view - I have, and even with the best of magnifying hoods, it's horrible compared to to video with the A7.

If all your want to do is shoot great stills and videos, you won't find a better buy in FF than an A7. If all you want to do is blabber on a forum, you can pick any camera and do what you've been doing about the A7.

@Myl Synder .. yes I can see EFCS now on that page, thanks for the link. However, as I mentioned earlier, I wasn't looking for it.

I don't mind sarcastic response, but to be honest, I wasn't sarcastic or negative to least. I like the system and so happy with the new features like IBIS and handling and I mentioned them. But I have some concerns before adapting this new system, and that's all I mentioned. I am sorry, if they seems sarcastic or negative to you !!!

Yes the body is 1.7k but even in Canikon there are offerings at that price point. The main advantage to Sony Alpha is not price, but IMHO its size and being mirrorless (so better live view etc) and to completely exploit the system, Sony need to target the market with mirrorless strengths not to compete against DSLRs.

SLR makers have been touting improved LV since the first mirrorless cameras showed how it could be without a flip-up non-transmissive mirror. It's not going to happen. Improvements have all been incremental at best. Same with the weight differences. The A7II may be heavier, but it's still dwarfed and outweighed by a D750.

The 'evil' translucent mirror from the LAEA4 is a whopping half stop difference, and besides, you can go with an EF adapter that loses no light and utilizes all that Canon glass.

No 'real' consequences unless you are boosting star trail 30sec shots by +3EV and peeping 100%. That, or peeping down to sub-100% levels and dissecting overexposed flare overlapping black shadows and pulling that whole mess up by 2-4EV. In short, the lossy artifacts are there. 99% of even demanding shots will not exhibit this without severe stressing of already iffy images.

11 bit is not the native RAW. The tonal curve is derived from 14 bit source and applied to 16 pixel tiles, so it's not like an image-wide arbitrary drop of 3 bits of bit depth. The errors some speak of are just that - decoding errors. The A7II may have resolved it, might not have, but even so, it's a miniscule issue for only hardcore measurebators to whine about, nothing more.

pixelpushing confuses the 14-bit signal from the sensor with the values that you can get from a Sony camera via its RAW file format. The ARW 3.2 format supports only 11 bits per pixel. Sometimes (as in long exposures) it's only 10 bits.

As a distinct problem, blocks of 16 pixels are encoded in a way that reduces the precision to 7 bits.

The tonal compression to 11 bits and the lossy block compression are not optional. You cannot get a 14-bit RAW file from an A7 camera. Sony's marketing for the A7 cameras clearly advertises 14-bit RAW output, but it's a flat lie -- 14-bit RAW files are not available.

(pixelpushing and quezra will now insult me as being "OCD anal-retentive Asperger's" for providing an accurate description of the technology, but I'm used to their abuse by now.)

Or rather the C3 is exactly where C2 used to be, and C4 exactly where C3 used to be. For obvious reasons they had to number the additional button next to C1 as "C2", and push all the other numbers down

It's actually the first sensor stabilisation on a MIRRORLESS full frame camera. All Sony full frame DSLRs and DSLTs have sensor stabilisation. DP Review shows its ignorance of the Sony system (also through its refusal to review the A77 Mark2).

@ braisim - I am unaware of another 5-axis image stabilization system for any full-frame camera, mirrorless or otherwise. Am I missing something, or did you maybe not read what we wrote carefully enough?

@ Barney - why not respond to quezra's criticism about the lack of a Sony A77II review? You dpr folk are really hopping all over the Canon 7DII even though it seems to have a pedestrian sensor. I'm keen for an APS-C upgrade and a FULL comparison of both models would be most helpful!

If I read it wrong, then I stand corrected - apologies. Glad to hear that you do wish to do a review of the A77MK2. I own neither this camera nor the 7D Mark 2, so I don't want a review merely to validate a previous purchasing decision, but it would be great to hear about the two cameras' relative performance. Keep up the good work.

Irrespective of content it grates on my nerves. It bugged me when the Guardian started doing it, it bugged me when the Verge started doing it, and it bugs me now you've started doing it.

It's a matter of style rather than content. It comes across as a cheap and desperate for clicks, and it lowers the overall tone of the webpage. If I had to pinpoint my annoyance, I'd say its because I don't like the way these grabby headlines presume to know what I need to know.

While I do not disagree with you, I did want to point out that this form of title seems to have become a journalistic trend of sorts, regardless of its original purpose. That DPR is using it may be the result of influence as much as the outcome of a desire to increase click-through rates.

No back view but here are two little hints:1) The two buttons on the top are titled C1 and C2 respectively (images 6-8); I guess you know what that stands for.2) Assigning these functions to buttons is an option even in entry level Sony cameras

It has a switchable AF/AEL button that is reprogrammable, plus you can program the behaviour of the shutter half press, so can set half press to AEL but not AF and use back button AF if you like, or reversed or do none at all at half press and have AEL on a C1/2 button etc.

Agreed! Plus many of the strong points of the D300—magnesium alloy frame, good ergonomics, fast and responsive, hi-res screen, easy access to many settings... Shame Nikon doesn't have anything like what the likes of Sony and Fuji have been producing.

I swapped out my D300 for the A7 and find that its sensor gives it the ability to handle nearly all instances where I would have used the the body flash on the D300. But I encourage you to try one out, your shooting situation may be different.

@ Barney - anytime web content, compelling or pedestrian, receives an artificial, advertising facilitating stretchout over 2-3x the number of pages needed to present the story, it IS clickbait!!! The quality of the content does NOT elevate the presentation above the clickbait genre. Whenever it occurs it is very regrettable and increases many viewers' odds of instantly surfing the web to something else.

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